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Mortlach has an unique distillation process. Please click on the photograph for an image at higher resolution.

The Distillery of Mortlach nowadays

And the distillery 100 years ago (circa 1908)

Regular Bottling:

Mortlach Fauna & Flora, 16 YO 43%

Other bottlings:

As part of their Special Releases, a 1971 31 YO Mortlach as been released, as well as Manger's choice. Prior to that, a Mortlach was bottled in 2002 in the Manager's dram serie (for Diageo staff only) and several version under their Rare Malts serie.

Several of the official Mortlach (from left to right): Mortlach Manager's Dram 2002, Rare Malts 23 YO, Mortlach Manager's Choice and the Mortlach 16 YO, from the Fauna & Flora range.

History of the Mortlach Distillery

Mortlach Distillery History
The distillery was licensed in 1823 to James Findlater and was the only distillery in Dufftown until 1887. Mortlach Distillery was built on the site of an illicit still that drew its water from a spring called Highland John's Well. Today process water comes from springs in the Conval Hills and cooling water from the River Dullan. The partners of James Findlater between 1822 and 1825 were Donald McIntosh and Alexander Gordon. In 1829, the output was 69 gallons a week
The distillery was sold in 1831 for £270 to John Robertson, distiller and tanner. In 1832, the distillery was silent and Arthur Thomas Gregory resumed production in 1833. It closed again in 1837. It was purchased in 1862 by J. & J. Grant of Glengrant, distillers at Aberlour, who acquired the distillery to transfer the apparatus to their distillery. The granary served as a free church. Some years later, John Gordon purchased the distillery to use it as a brewery, before distillation resumed again. Under his ownership, the whisky attained some celebrity and was called 'The Real John Gordon'. Eight men were working and used 40 quarters of barley a week.

George Cowie (1816-96) became a partner in 1853. After the death of Gordon in 1867, he became the sole owner of the distillery. His son, Dr. Alexander Mitchell
Cowie (1861-1940), took over the distillery, when his father died. William Grant, the founder of Glenfiddich distillery, worked for 20 years, until 1866 as distillery manager at Mortlach.

Major additions to the premises were made in 1897, including an additional larger still-house, when a siding was built from the railway, near Dufftown Station, right into the distillery. Electric lighting was installed in the following year. Mortlach then assumed the form described by a contributor to the Wine & Spirit Trade Record in 1923. He found "a veritable village" that dwarfed all neighbouring distilleries. It had two barley lofts, four "gigantic" malt floors, the largest mash-tun in the district, seven exceptionally large wash-backs, and two still houses: "in one there are three old-fashioned stills, with a capacity of about 2,000 gallons (5, 200 litres) each (and) in the other are three larger stills, installed in 1897". Driving power for the malting and mashing processes was supplied by a new Marshall steam engine of 50 h. p. The substantially built warehouses were capable of storing two million gallons (5, 200,000 litres).

Since his only son was killed during the Great War, Dr Cowie sold the business to John Walker & Sons Ltd in 1923. Walker and Sons merged in 1925 with the Distillers CompanyLimited Ltd. Mortlach was transferred to the Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD), a subsidiary of The Distillers Company Ltd in 1930. During the Second World War, it was only closed in 1944.

SMD embarked in the 1960s on a long-term programme of modernising and re-equipping its distilleries. The cramped layout of the site at Mortlach and the condition of the old buildings made it necessary to demolish and to rebuild the premises from scratch. In the new distillery, completed in 1964, the mash-house and tun­ room were combined in an open plan, and the six stills, previously hand-fired, were converted to a mechanical coal-stoking system. The stills were again converted, in 1971, to internal heating by steam. Floor malting operations were stopped in 1968. Full computer control and a new mash tun were installed in 1996.